[An epidemiological study of thyroid pathology in a group of hospitalized patients]

The epidemiological impact of thyroid disease was assessed in a group of in-patients from an area with a potential iodine deficiency. The overall frequency of thyroid disease in the three years studied was approximately 4.91%, with a prevalence of elderly patients and a bias towards the female sex of 8.14:1. Nodular, single and multiple lesions were observed in 3.74% of hospitalised patients, whereas malignant forms were limited to 1.98% of the patients with nodular pathologies. When thyrotoxic syndromes were classified it was found that there was a predominance of multinodular toxic goitres over Basedow's disease. These findings are discussed and compared to previously published data.